Teenage hunter in France accidentally shoots father dead then turns gun on himself in despair

France is in shock after a 14-year-old boy mistakenly shot his father dead while out hunting then turned the gun on himself in despair and committed suicide.

The father and son had been out hunting on Saturday afternoon in Sourribes in the Alpes-de-Haute Provence when the boy slipped on leaves, accidentally pulling the trigger, police said. The bullet struck his 42-year-old father in the legs.

The distraught teenager then called contacted a family member who alerted emergency services, but the father died before paramedics arrived.

When he realised had had killed his father, the boy then committed suicide next to his body.

“It’s a hunting accident caused unintentionally by the boy who, realising the irreversible consequences [of his action], turned the weapon on himself and killed himself,” said prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger, calling the incident a “very sad tragedy.”

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Max Isoard, the president of the hunters of Haute-Provence, lamented the “tragic act” but said: “This is a very particular case in which a gun ended up in the hands of a kid.”

“You need to be at least 15 years old to hunt accompanied,” he said. Even then, you require a special training to receive a permit from the national hunting and nature office, ONCFS.

“During this training, you learn the basic rules, such as not to walk with a loaded weapon,” he said.

The father had taken part in a boar hunt that morning, which was over, when tragedy struck.

The dual death is the latest of several hunting accidents in France in recent months.

On Sunday, a 58-year old died from head injuries after a fellow hunter shot him in Harnes in the Pas-de-Calais area, northern France.

In October, a 61-year-old French hunter accidentally killed his son after mistaking him for a wild boar. In the same week, a six-year-old boy died in the north of France, days after being shot during a hunt.

And in September, a 82-year-old deaf hunter wounded two mushroom pickers, one of them critically, after mistaking them for a pheasant.

Anti-hunting groups are calling for the laws to be changed so that hunting is banned on Sundays, when ramblers are at risk, and for stricter safety measures.

There have been 179 hunting accidents in France over the past year, 21 of them fatal, according to the ONCFS.